Spout.



A. W. ERIGKSON.

SPOUT.

APPLICATION FILED D110. 20, 1911.

Patented Dec. 31

W1 TNESSES Afforney 5 COLUMBIA I'LANOORAPH co.. wnsnmm'ou, D. c,

AXEL W. ERICKSON, OF HAWICK, MINNESOTA.

SPOUT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1912.

Application filed December 20, 1911. Serial No. 666,907.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AXEL NV. Emcnson, acitizen of the United States, residing at Hawick, in the county ofKandiyohi and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Spouts; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in spouts for grainelevators and more particularly to a closure for the side of a grainspout.

The object of my invention is to provide a grain spout having an openingin one side thereof and a closure adapted to normally close saidopening.

A further object is to so form the closure that no projections will bedisposed in the path of the grain discharged through said spout andwhich may be eas1ly moved so that the opening in said spout will bedisclosed when it is desired to remove obstacles in said spout.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be hereinafter madeclearly apparent in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawingsrI have shown the preferred forms which myinvention may take.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a spout for a grainelevator having an opening in one side thereof, the closure for saidopening being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of thepreferred form of closure for the opening in the side of a grain spout.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, 1 is the hopper, intowhich the grain from the elevator is directed, said hopper beingconnected to a downwardly directed pipe 2. The lower end of the pipe 2is connected to a preferably downwardly directed and obl1quely disposedspout 3, which is of such a length as to extend to the point where it isdesired to discharge the grain. The lower end of said pipe 3 is providedwith a downwardly directed end 4, through which the grain is dischargedinto a suitable distributing pipe 5.

In handling grain it is usual to elevate the same to a high position inthe building of the elevator, by means of endless c0nveyers havingbuckets or cups thereon to receive the grain. These buckets often becomeloose from the conveyor and are discharged with the grain into thehopper. With the usual form of grain spout these buckets or cups, and infact other foreign objects which may be in the grain, will catch in thespout and prevent the passage of the grain therethrough. It is thennecessary to remove the entire spout in order to remove the obstruction.

In employing my invention I form an opening (3 preferably in the upperside of the spout near its discharge end. A. closure "1, of slightlygreater extent than the opening 6, is disposed over said opening and isheld in place by means of bands 8, which encircle the spout. In order toprevent the casual removal of the closure from the opening, the lowerend of the spout is provided with an upwardly directed lug 9 and thelower end of the closure is provided with a notch 10, which is adaptedto receive said lug. In order that the closure 7 may be easily movedwhen desired, I provide the same with a handle 11, which is riveted orotherwise rigidly secured thereto.

'When it is desired to move the closure 7 from its normal position so asto disclose the opening in the side of the spout, the handle is graspedand the closure moved upwardly a suilicient distance to disengage thenotch from the lug and said closure may then be turned around the spoutuntil the opening is completely disclosed. The operator may then inserthis arm in the spout or may insert any desired form of suitable tooltherethrough to remove any obstruction from the spout.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided agrain spout, which may be easily cleaned whenever the same becomesclogged. It will also be seen that I have provided a form of closurewhich presents no form of obstruction to the passage of the grainthrough the spout.

lVhile I have described my invention as being particularly adapted foruse with a grain spout, I desire it to be understood that the same maybe employed in connection with any form of distributing spout. I alsodesire it to be understood that certain modifications may be madetherein without departing from the scope of my invention.

l/Vhat I claim as new is:

1. In combination with an inclined cylindrical grain spout having anopening therein, a closure for the opening consisting of a curved bodyprovided with circular bands movably embracing the cylindrical spout,said closure having a notch in an end there of, a lug on the spoutengaged by the said notch and held in engagement therewith by gravityfor preventing rotation of the closure on the spout, and a handle on theclosure whereby the closure may be moved longitudinally and the notchmay be disengaged from the lug so that the closure may be rotated uponthe surface of the spout for uncovering said opening.

2. In combination with an inclined cylindrical grain spout having anopening, a curved closure rotatably seated on the spout and adapted tobe moved longitudinally thereof, locking means operating through gravityfor preventing accidental relative movement of the spout and theclosure, and a handle on the closure whereby it may be moved againstgravity longitudinally of the spout and rotated thereon.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

AXEL W. ERICKSON.

Witnesses:

E. A. SGHMITT, VVILLARD E. SCHULTZ.

Copies of this patent may be obta nedfor five cents each,

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C.

